As was stated in the Buckners thread (It's probably one of the best choices in the state right now) its kinda lean for wild caving. Public land is closed.

There are plenty of novice caves available on private land....and nobody is likely to just list them for you. First, that won't help you much without locations which they aren't likely to share with a stranger. Caves require not just finding out the location, but also mainting good landowner relations. In short, you need (as you have been told) to make contact with one of the local grottoes like the CIG, HCG, etc...and get involved in the caving community and the people who have the information, and more importantly the context. As an example, some caves that are good for novices have bad landowner situations, can flood in wet weather, or can be confused with other nearby caves that are not suitable for beginners.

As a case in point, The SJVG grotto (Northern Indiana) just did a trip to Clicks Cave in S. Indiana on Saturday. The cave is gated and requires a key. It's also a decent cave for all but very young cavers. Had you called each of the grottoes listed for Indiana or even just the CIG they might told you about the trip. It's unlikely another trip will be scheduled real soon with the elderly landowner since we don't want to wear out our welcome at such a nice and well known cave.

I'm not trying to be hard on you, but time after time people come here, ask about caves, we tell them what to do, and they refuse to believe that some cave fairy won't just wave a wand and let them skip making contact with local cavers and earning their trust.

I'm not scared of the dark, it's the things IN the dark that make me nervous. :)

I'm not trying to be hard on you, but time after time people come here, ask about caves, we tell them what to do, and they refuse to believe that some cave fairy won't just wave a wand and let them skip making contact with local cavers and earning their trust.

I am not expecting anyone to give me locations here online to a stranger, and I fully intend on getting involved with the CIG (but there is a whole almost month before their next meeting and trip), and I do not expect to skip making contact with local cavers or earning their trust. I am fully aware of the secrecy in the caving communities, as I spent 10-11 years caving while growing up, have been staff at a camp that caves, and have experienced this first hand. I have full intentions of getting in touch with people from the CIG and BIG, getting involved in the meetings and cave trips as often as possible, and earning the trust of the caving community today as an adult (grew up caving, didn't get involved with the caving community because I was a kid and the adults did all that work). I also see nothing wrong with making posts like this...not expecting to get locations, but just opinions about what caves are good for kids and which ones are not....not so I can go behind the community's back and find the caves myself. I see nothing wrong with talking about all of this online AS WELL as getting involved with the CIG or BIG, and earning peoples' trust in person. I have already made contact with the CIG by email. And I am hoping to possibly attend an upcoming vertical caving workshop next month (not sure yet, but hope to). I am not just sitting on my butt here at a computer trying to do this all online.